By Chuck Lyons Thousands of people celebrated America’s birthday on Independence Day, July 4, 2017 in Rosemead.

The parade, with six more entries than last year, started at 10 a.m. along Valley Boulevard near Walnut Grove Avenue, traveled past Rosemead City Hall and Civic Center Plaza, then north on Loma Avenue to Rosemead Park.

Activities during the day at Rosemead Park included food booths, rides, games and music, followed by the free fireworks show at 9 p.m.

Thousands of people packed the park with their own food or purchased food from food stands and food trucks in the middle of the park, and concluded the day watching the large professional fireworks show. All of the Rosemead events were free to attend. Rides, games and food were for a fee.

Tha Htet sang USA’s National Anthem before the start of the parade. There were 58 entries in the parade and that included community organizations, City of Rosemead city council, led by Mayor Polly Low, and city commission representatives, local school district representatives with Rosemead High School cheer and spirit teams having a big group, marching bands including the biggest...the alumni from Los Angeles Unified School District All City Honor Band and also a large band from Garvey Intermediate School, floats, vintage cars, County of Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Temple Station and California Highway Patrol police cars and County of Los Angeles Fire Department station 42 fire engine, and horse groups. Paradise Cookie Truck was a crowd favorite as Paradise employees handed out free cookies as its cookie truck drove the parade route as an entry.

Among mascots were Ronald McDonald from McDonald’s, Little Caesar’s Pizza, Target, and County of Los Angeles Fire and Sheriff departments and U.S. Forest Service Smokey Bear. Rosemead High School also had its Banner Team represent the school by participating in the parade.

People watching the parade were seen visiting with and taking pictures with City of Rosemead 2017 Queen Kayla Trinh, a senior at Rosemead High School, in front of city hall.

After the parade, many people headed to Rosemead Park for food booths, music, carnival games, rides, music, and the free fireworks show at 9 p.m.

One parade viewer commented how well the parade was organized (mainly by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department) and said Rosemead’s emergency response citizen’s group and County of Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department made the parade safe and enjoyable. Many people at the park were enjoying their own food they brought and the food vendors tried to keep up with the demand for their food and non-alcoholic drinks being enjoyed by many customers.